Romance of a Jewess (1908)
Directed by D.W. Griffith
Genres - Drama |
Release Date - Oct 23, 1908 (USA - Unknown) |
Run Time - 10 min. |
Countries - United States |
MPAA Rating - NR
Share on
Synopsis by Sandra Brennan
In this four hanky early silent melodrama, Ruth tries to survive amidst tragedy and toil on New York's Lower East Side. It all begins as Ruth's mother dies. Just before she expires, she hands her daughter a beautiful locket to help her remember that hope exists. Afterward, Ruth returns to working beside her father in his pawnshop. The two have a terrible falling out when she chooses to marry an impoverished bookseller. Her enraged father casts her out and tells her never to return. Ruth and her husband are happy and she bears a daughter. Later, her husband dies in an accident and she is left destitute. Soon poverty takes its toll and Ruth is deathly ill. Desperate for money, she gives her beloved locket to her daughter and instructs her to pawn it. The daughter ends up wandering into the store of her grandfather, whom she's never met. He sees the locket, has a change of heart and runs to help his daughter. Unfortunately, Ruth has gone, leaving the grandfather to raise the girl himself.
Characteristics
Keywords
accident, against-all-odds, bookseller, death, deathbed, disapproval, disease, employment, family, father, hope, husband, love, marriage, marriage-arranged, mother, parent, pawnshop, poverty, silence, urban, daughter